Sacred Celtic Trees and WoodsPlants play an important role in many pre-Christian European religions.

To the Celts and many other peoples of the old world, certain trees held special significance as a fuel for heat, cooking, building materials and weaponry. In addition to this however, many woods also provided a powerful spiritual presence. The specific trees varied between different cultures and geographic locations, but those believed to be "sacred" shared certain traits.

Mountain Ash, RowanMountain Ashes (aka, Rowans) are common in North America and Eurasia. According to ancient Celtic tradition the tree had magical properties:

The Celts and other people of early British Isles thought the tree had magical properties. Its powers were to protect you from witchcraft, one of two reasons why it is also called Witchwood. The other reason is a pucker at the end of the fruit reminds some of a pentagram which is associated with witchery.

wildrose: Very cool! It seems that a lot of very interesting history was obscured by the invasion of Christianity. I often wonder about how our ancient ancestors lived and what the world would be like if Christianity had vanished away and not spread like a virus up through Europe.